Sopranos creator David Chase "strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn't get whacked"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

'Sopranos' creator: What did fans expect?



http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/23/tv.sopranos.davidchase.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just when we had made our peace with "The Sopranos" finale and moved on with our lives, David Chase has stirred things up again. Breaking his silence months after the HBO mob drama ended its run, he is offering a belated explanation for that blackout at the restaurant. He strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn't get whacked moments later as he munched onion rings with his family at Holsten's. And mostly Chase wonders why so many viewers got so worked up over the series' non-finish.

"There WAS a war going on that week, and attempted terror attacks in London," says Chase. "But these people were talking about onion rings."

The interview, included in "'The Sopranos': The Complete Book," published this week, finds Chase exasperated by viewers who were upset that Tony didn't meet explicit doom.

Chase says the New Jersey mob boss "had been people's alter ego. They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted 'justice' ..."The pathetic thing -- to me -- was how much they wanted HIS blood, after cheering him on for eight years."